To Charm a Bluestocking

Bluestocking #1

by Renée Dahlia

She wants to be one of the world’s first female doctors; romance is not in her plans.

1887: Too tall, too shy and too bookish for England, Lady Josephine moves to Holland to become one of the world’s first female doctors. With only one semester left, she has all but completed her studies when a power-hungry professor, intent on marrying her for her political connections, threatens to prevent her graduation. Together with the other Bluestockings, female comrades-in-study, she comes up with a daring, if somewhat unorthodox plan: acquire a fake fiancé to provide the protection and serenity she needs to pass her final exams.

But when her father sends her Lord Nicholas St. George, he is too much of everything: too handsome, too charming, too tall and too broad and too distracting for Josephine’s peace of mind. She needed someone to keep her professor at bay, not keep her from her work with temptations of long walks, laughing, and languorous kisses.

Just as it seems that Josephine might be able to have it all: a career as a pioneering female doctor and a true love match, everything falls apart and Josephine will find herself in danger of becoming a casualty in the battle between ambition and love.

Praise for TO CHARM A BLUESTOCKING:

'Wow, this book was amazing! I loved how the author mixed historical facts with her story and made me feel with those young women, trying to find their way in a world that was reluctant to allow women to learn and to study. A wonderful and gripping book that I couldn't put down and that lets me hope for another book by this author - and soon, please!' — Irina Wolpers, Netgalley



'This is a good story and gives you a look into how hard it was for women going to school at the time.' — Nancy Witt, Netgalley



'This was a very good novel, well written as well! An author whose books I will be looking for in the future. It had emotions and enough depth that I feel satisfied. Loved it!' —Naeinar Zan , NetGalley

Genres: Romance

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2017

About the author

Renée Dahlia is an unabashed romance reader who loves feisty women and strong, clever men. Her books reflect this, with a side-note of awkward humour. Renée has a science degree in physics. When not distracted by the characters fighting for attention in her brain, she works in the horse racing industry doing data analysis. When she isn’t reading or writing, Renée spends time with her partner, four children, and volunteers on the local cricket club committee.

Reviews

[Cherry London · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story tells of the great struggles and strides women have taken to be recognized, respected and accepted in their chosen field of career in a man's world. Now being seen as worthy opponents, equal to the same treatment as their counterparts, instead of being belittled by their opposites, who believed their places should be in the bedrooms and taking care of their children and homes. Josephine wanted nothing and no one to stand in her way of her progressive move. She is a complex girl when it comes to romance, a bit naive in her dealings with Van Percy, and romantic relationships on a whole, which leads to some turbulent times. This book not only tells of the female struggles for an education, equality and acceptance, but Josephine’s struggle with her budding attraction for Nicholas. Filled with intrigue, and villains who would stoop at nothing to get their way. This book has been an eye opener and an interesting read.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Josephine moves to Holland to become a doctor. She has made two friends who are also working hard in their 4th year to graduate. Professor Van Percy is trying to intimidate Josephine ithat she will marry him when she graduates. She writes to her father and he sends a "fake" fiancee to put off Van Percy. Lord St George shows up to play the part. They have a chemistry between them that is not fake. As the story goes on Nicholas finds that the assignment he was sent to do other than to be a "fake" fiancee for Josephine will involve the same people. Thsi si a good story and gives you a look into how hard it was for women going to school at the time.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this novel. Likeable and believable main characters. A believable plot. A lovely romance.
Some people might be offended by the anachronism, especially in dialogues, but I didn't mind those.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the second book in this series when it came out and loved it, so when I realized it was the second one I bought this one, the first and it waited a while for me to get to it, and now I have the third one waiting for me I decided it was time to read Josephine’s story, I love these girls all aiming to be Doctors in a world that was not easy for them back in 1887. A rocky journey Josephine has not only in her studies but with the man that is sent to protect her.

Josephine is a shy bluestocking and feels so out of place in England socializing is not one of her favourite things and she wants to be a Doctor and Holland is the better place to study, so she starts her four years of training makes friends with Marie and Claire, and does well but when she is being harassed by one of the professors it is time to ask her father for help, and this brings Lord Nicholas St George to the rescue, and Josephine is hard pressed to keep her feelings under control.

Nicholas has worked with Josephine’s father as a spy for many years and is happy to arrive and pretend to be her fiancé to keep her safe, he is also investigating another matter, except when he first meets Josephine his blood heats up like it never has with any other woman, and instant attraction makes him want her for real not pretend. When he realizes that the other matter he is working is linked to the professor, things get very dangerous and he is determined to protect this strong willed woman all the more.

This one was a little slow to start but then wow it moved fast and the heat that sparks between them could melt the snow that is falling, there is a lot happening with riots and danger and Josephine is so stubborn about being told what to do, when Nicholas is badly injured the three girls who are now Doctors work to save him and love blooms brightly in such a sensual way, I do highly recommend this book and I am looking forward the next book in this series, thank you MS Dahlia for a fabulous story.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome debut! I read it all in one day, virtually all in one sitting. Feminist romance and historical fiction rolled into one. Enough history and detail to satisfy the intellectual stimulation married to proper romance writing. Looking forward to more from this emerging author.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC, NetGalley, honest review, etc. I was all set to declare this "a bit of a turd, realy" and pan the hell out of it, but then I read the author's website and found out it was her very first novel, and based off her doctor ancestress, a pioneer in the field of medicine, to boot, which has me downgrading this to "could have used some extremely stern editing."

That isn't to say this isn't a hot mess. Things I like in romance novels: bluestocking heroines, unconventional settings (Amsterdam!), fake betrothals/marriages of convenience, rakes being reformed. Things that were in this novel: all of those things. Things this romance novel carried off well: none of those things. OUR HEROINE calls her cool spy dad for a fake fiance to get a creepy professor off her back; OUR HERO turns up, we are told that he is a great spy, and they fall in instalust, straight from central casting, with inconvenient boners galore.

The role of the dissolute young rake was one that he had played to perfection during those political assignments earlier in his career. Nights spent at balls with the wives and mistresses of grand players in this game of international politics. Nights spent listening carefully to the threads of conversation to pick up little pieces of intrigue. Many of the ladies were sadly neglected by their power-hungry husbands and all too willing to give up their husband's secrets for a few hours in the arms of a handsome young man.

Was he ready to give that up for one woman?

But the spying is mostly an informed ability; the creepy professor says "lol nah, you guys aren't betrothed, there's no way" and OUR HERO'S internal response is "shit, I had not planned for this extremely likely situation, what do I do? Ha ha!" Also, the pacing of the romance was off to the point that I kept shouting at my Kindle "they've only known each other for two days!!! that's not long enough!!! they don't have that kind of chemistry!!! she has exams to study for!!!!"

Another point to pick at was the... this is Well-Researched, in the sense that, as my roommate would say, the author read twenty Wikipedia pages to write this one paragraph, and by god, you're gonna read them too. (The sort-of works cited at the end of the book is actually pretty interesting, I definitely want to read some of her sources.) But the effect is not organic at all--very clunky, very "As you know, Bob,,,"

The writing is pretty clunky in points, too. There's a spy stuff plot, which I do not find particularly compelling even when done by established, excellent authors. The one bit of emotional goodness that emerged from said plot, however, was the burn reveal scene. Read it, you'll see.

As for the spicy bits, they were all right, but the one thing that caused me to have to suspend my disbelief to the extreme was--look. There's a bit where the designated villain kidnaps our heroine, cholorforms her, and forces her marriage, and then, because she is now his wife and therefore his property, he beats the hell out of her, to the point where her face is covered in bruises and her nose is broken. She sets her broken nose herself. Our hero rescues her, and they bone down... while she's still injured? Immediately afterward? I don't know about y'all, but I would not be feeling particularly randy if I'd just had to put my own nose back in place after an extremely traumatic experience.

Weak chemistry, poor pacing, Still, the whole series is a very interesting premise, and maybe our author will improve a few books down the line? Here's hoping.

[the Kent cryptid · Rating 2 out of 5]

To Charm a Bluestocking has an appealing premise: it's 1887 and Josephine Tobinbury is about to complete her studies as one of the first women to graduate in medicine from the Municipal University of Amsterdam. In order to protect herself from the attentions of the villainous Professor van Percy she writes to her father and asks him to provide her with a fake beau. Complications arise when her 'fiancé' arrives and proves to be less biddable than she had imagined.

Bluestocking is written in an appealingly breathless, full-tilt style that carries the reader along and doesn't encourage the paying of too much attention to the plot. The author obviously has a love for her subject matter, explaining in the afterword that the inspiration came from her own great grandmother who was an early 20th-century medical graduate. The book includes some interesting particulars about pioneering women doctors, historical events in Amsterdam, and 19th-century medical techniques.

However, the same attention to detail hasn't been paid to 1880s social mores or language. It's a convention in some historical romance writing to disregard any attempt to make dialogue sound historically accurate, perhaps with the idea that readers will connect more with characters who sound like they're from the modern day USA rather than the historical period in question. It's a stylistic choice I always question because there's nothing that throws me out of a story set in 1887 faster than writing like - to quote some examples from To Charm a Bluestocking - "Don't stress. They are just scared that we will show them up"; "Your father asked you to do market research for him?; and "The whole place had a good vibe."

Josephine is an appealingly practical heroine who is just the person to have around if you've been caught in a towering inferno or had your nose broken by an evil-doer. Speaking of which, Professor van Percy is a rather fun Black Hat of a villain, fond of making theatrical speeches and at one point literally twirling his moustache.

The hero, Nicolas, is something of a nonentity, although I did enjoy his pride in Josephine's achievements and support for her medical career. The two of them fall in insta-love and don't have much chemistry while clothed, but there's one enjoyably sensual sex scene. There are also a couple of would-be erotic scenes which are horribly unsexy, including Nicolas being weirdly aroused by Josephine eating a sandwich.

The sound of her masticating filled the room and it took all his effort to look away from her lips as they worked on her food. It was not much of a stretch to imagine her mouth on him.

There's also a very painful scene where the pair have sex in a moving carriage while she has a recently broken nose and he has a broken ankle. This is presented as pleasurable for the characters but just sounds horrific.

On the whole, this is a quick and moderately entertaining read, but something of a waste of an excellent premise.

[Shelagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing a novel is an incredibly challenging thing to do, and having your first completed manuscript is something to be immensely proud of. There are so many skills to learn and it is unreasonable to expect that a first time novelist would have these down pat from the start. With those thoughts in mind, I commend Renee Dahlia for this first effort.
No it's not perfect. Some of the dialogue is well and truly wrong for that period in history and my mind did boggle a little over the sandwich scene. I felt that having the hero jump into thoughts of marriage at the second meeting was a bit of a stretch too, but this story also has its positives.
The setting, in Amsterdam at the end of the 19th century, is an unusual one and I liked that. I felt more focus could have been given to life in Amsterdam at the time because that would have helped to set this story aside. As it was, the story could pretty well have taken place anywhere once we'd been introduced to women studying medicine at a time when women didn't.
That, by the way, is also a positive - I liked the focus on women encroaching on what had previously been regarded as a man's world and doing it well.
While I do feel the story could have been tighter, smoother, better, these are all things that come with practice, with learning to proof read and edit more diligently, and with developing a good critique network. In the meantime this is not a bad first effort.

[Liv Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the era and the sections with the main male character’s POV. Josephine and Nicholas have great chemistry.
What was really great was the dynamics between the three female friends. All strong characters. All smart with their ambitions to be a doctor. All support each other. Josephine thinks for herself and doesn’t rely on anyone.